Life-saving apparel.



M. P. VUKOSAV.

LIFE SAVING APPAREL.

APPLlCATION HLED FEB. 2, 1911).

1,258,806. Patentvd J um 4, 191&

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

111 uv n l 01 MIKE P. VUKOSAV, OF WEST OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA.

LIFE-SAVING APPAREL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June a, rare.

Application filed liebruary 2, 1918. Serial No. 215,077.

To all whom it may concer'n:

Be it known that MIKE P. VUKosAv, subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, residing at West Oakland, in the county of Alameda and State of California, has invented certain new and useful Improvements'in Life-Savin .Apparel, of which the following is a speci cation, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to .life saving apparel, and has for its primary object to provide a suit or garment having an inflatable body portion, and means within the arment whereby said body may be inflate by the wearer.

It is another object of my invention to provide a life saving suit or garment which is equipped with means in the head portion thereof for affording a constant supply of fresh air to the interior of the garment.

It is also one of :the detail objects of my invention to provide a garment havin a lon 'tudinally extending entrance opening in t e body thereof, and means for effecting a water tight closure of said opening.

The invention also has for an important object to provide improved inflatable paddles adapted to be attached to the feet to afford additional means for sustaining the wearer in" a perpendicular position in the water, and which will also permit him to make rapid progress through the water with relatively little exertion.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter more fully described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improved life saving suit or garment and illustrating the use thereof;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the garment;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical section taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlar ed detailed section taken on the line 55 of ig, 2; and

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the skeleton framework of one of the foot paddles.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates the body of the garment, which is rovided with front and rear portions, designated 6 and 7 respectively, having the leg extensions 8 terminating in the. foot coverings 9. To the underside of the garment body, a fabric Wall or lining 10 is secured at its edges to the body wall of the garment, said walls affording between them an air space. To the body of the garment, at opposite sides thereof, spaced lateral extensions 11 are provided, each of which also has an air space 12 communicating with the main air space.

13 designates the head covering or hood,

which is suitably secured to the garment body and within the same a light steel shell 14 is inclosed and secured to said head covering in any approved manner. Inflating tubes 15 are connected to the main air receiving chamber at one of their ends, and suitable closures are provided for the other ends of these tubes, the shell 14 and the covering 13 having registering openings indicated at 16, the opening in the shell being covered by glass or other transparent material. These openings may be closed by means of the pivoted plates 17. Additional glass covered openings 18 for the admission of light to the interior of the garment are provided in the front of the body portion and a relatively large opening 19 is also formed therein and may be closed by a hinged plate 20. Through this opening the arm may be extended for the purpose of throwing refuse matter from the interior of the garment, it being understood, of course, that the garment is equipped with suitable pockets to contain foodstuffs.

21 designates shoulder straps which are attached at one of their ends to the rear portion of the garment body and arev adapted to be connected at their other ends to suitable hooks or fastenings on the front body wall. 22 designates the sleeves which have a water tight connection with the outer sides of the front and rear walls of the chambers 11.

If desired a flag or other suitable signal indicated at 23 may be centrally attached to the shell 14. Air inlet tubes 24 also extend through the top wall of this shell and are connected at their inner ends to a common tube 25 which terminates in a downwardly opening funnel-shaped mouth 26. Through these tubes the interior of the garment is constantly supplied with fresh air.

The front body wall of the garment is provided with a longitudinall extending opening 27 through which t e occupant enters and to the outer side of this wall along each edge of the opening, metal plates 28 of angular form in cross section are socured. The opposed flanges of these plates have rubber stri s 28 or other suitable material secured t ereon so that when the plates are brought together and said strips compressed they will efi'ect a water tight closure of the opening-27. Suitable bolts, shown at 29, extend through these 'flanges of the plates 28 and have nuts threadedupon one of their ends which are adjustable, by the occupant of the garment so as to tightly clamp the flanged plates together.

In connection; with" my improved life saving garment, the' -;paddles designated generally by the numeral 30, arejemployed. Each of these paddles consists ofa'" skeleton framework made up of a number of parallel wires or rods 31 bent to define' a'substantially triangular shaped figure, said-.- wires be g connected at intervals by radially disposed wires 32. A fabric covering 33 of waterproof material is secured upon the frame wires and entirely incloses the same. 33 designates an inflating tube whereby the, space between the opposite walls of these fabric coverings maybe inflated with air. Suitable attaching straps 34 are secured to the framework and are adapted to be detachably feet and ankles of the user.

In the use of my invention, when the garment is donned and the body thereof inflated, and the inflated paddles applied'to the feet, the occupant tightly closes the entrance opening 27 in the manner above explained. He may then enter the-water and the air inflated paddles and the garment will sustain him in an. erect position with the head and shoulders above the water.

' The occupant may readil move or progress lid in any desired direction 'y simply manipulating the paddles 30 with his feet. By the use of my garment, shipwrecked passengers or seamen will be prevented from drowning ard'as the arment may be equipped with a. consideraile quantity of food, life can be sustained for a long time or until a rescue is efi'ect'ed. The garment can, of course, be constructed in various sizes and while I have herein shown and described the preferred construction and arrangement of the several elements, it is, of course, manifest that the same are susceptible of considerable modification and I, therefore, reserve the privilege of adopting all such legitimate secured over the meaeoe changes as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. A life saving arment having trunk and leg portions of flexible material, and a main air' chamber surroundingthe trunk portion 'of the' garment, upper and lower supplementary air chambers at the opposite sides of the main air chamber and in communication with the latter, and means for inflating said chambers.

2. A life saving arment having trunk and leg. portions of exible material, and a main air chamber surrounding the .-trunk portion of the garment, upper and lower supplementary air chambers at the opposite sides of the main air chamber and in communication with the latter, and sleeves connected to the walls of the upper suppleinentary air chambers.

3. A life saving garment having a body rovided with a main air chamber and f' ateral extensions ofsaid chamber at each side of the garment, inflating; tubeswithin the garment connected. to said chamber, spaced shoulder stra s fixed at "oneg of their ends to the rear ody wall of the garment and adapted to be detachably connected at their other ends to the front body wall thereof, a head inclosing hood connected to the garment body, one of thebody walls ofxthe garment and said head ings for the admission of light to the in terior of the garment, and air supplying means extending through the top wall of the hood.

4. A foot addle comprising a rigid frame, an in atable casing inclosing said frame, and means for detachably securing the paddle upon. the foot of the user.

5. A foot paddle comprising a frame consisting of a plurality of spaced wire rods, a second series of rods connecting the first named rods at intervals to each other, an inflatable fabric covering entirely inclosing said frame, and means secured to the frame for attaching the paddle to the foot of a user.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

- MIKE P. l OSAV 

